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Major Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer-Churchill, MBE ( 28 May 1911 – 6 June 1968 ) was the son of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine . He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford and became a journalist. In 1931 he shared Edward James 's house in London with John Betjeman . He was married twice; his first marriage, to the well-known socialite Pamela Digby, later and better known as Pamela Harriman , produced a son, Winston Churchill , who followed in his footsteps as a Member of Parliament, and by his second marriage - to June Osborne - he had a daughter, Arabella Churchill . He was a Conservative Member Of Parliament for Preston from 1940 to 1945 . During World War II , Randolph Churchill served for a time with the newly formed Special Air Service (SAS), joining their C.O. David Sterling on a number of missions behind enemy lines in the Libyan Desert. He also went on a military/diplomatic mission to Yugoslavia in 1944 , part of the British support for the Partisans during that civil war. He and Evelyn Waugh narrowly escaped capture/death when the Germans undertook Operation Rösselsprung , and had paratroops and glider-borne storm troops attack the Partisan headquarters where they were staying. An outcome was a formidable report detailing Tito 's persecution of the clergy. It was "buried" by Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden (who also attempted to discredit Waugh) to save diplomatic embarrassment as Tito was then seen as a required ally of Britain and an official "friend". Randolph Churchill's political career (and that of his son) was not as successful as Sir Winston's or his grandfather's (Lord Randolph Churchill). In the 1935 General Election he stood as an Independent Conservative, marking a temporary breach with his father's politics. He also stood in a By-election at Ross And Cromarty opposed to the National Government candidacy of Malcolm MacDonald . He was elected unopposed as Member Of Parliament for Preston during the war ( 1940 - 45 ) to fill a vacancy, but lost his seat in the 1945 General Election . He stood for parliament on many other occasions, and was defeated at each – including losing to future Labour leader Michael Foot at Plymouth Devonport in the 1951 General Election . UK general election results, 1951 Randolph was often portrayed as the black sheep of the Churchill family - irascible, bad-tempered, spoiled by his father, and with a serious drinking problem. But he inherited his father's literary flair, and carved out a career for himself as a successful writer. He started the official biography of his father in 1966 , but had only finished the second volume by the time of his death in 1968 . It was posthumously completed by Sir Martin Gilbert . He wrote an autobiography, ''Twenty-One Years''. His father declined a , hereditary peers were allowed to disclaim their titles, although the only peer to do so and become Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home — previously the 14th Earl Of Home — served very briefly in that office.) He died of a Heart Attack in 1968, aged 57. He is buried with his parents and siblings at St Martin's Church, Bladon , near Woodstock, Oxfordshire . NOTES WORKS
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